


My Treat

by leiascully



Category: The X-Files
Genre: Episode Tag, Gen, Ice Cream, X-Files OctoberFicFest
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-17
Updated: 2016-10-17
Packaged: 2018-08-29 07:55:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 518
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8481634
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/leiascully/pseuds/leiascully
Summary: "I bet you have an unerring instinct for sweet treats."





	

**Author's Note:**

> Timeline: post-"Conduit"  
> A/N: For a tumblr prompt  
> Disclaimer: _The X-Files_ and all related characters are the property of Chris Carter, 1013 Productions, and Fox Studios. No profit is made from this work and no infringement is intended.

She takes him out for ice cream.

“What’s the occasion, Scully?” he asks, licking at his cone. 

“Just thought it would be nice,” she tells him. It’s cool enough outside that the ice cream doesn’t melt right away, and windy enough to flap their long coats. Mulder turns to shelter his ice cream from the leaves that blow past. Mint chocolate chip. She would have thought he liked rocky road. 

“I hear we missed some great ice cream in Iowa,” he says.

“Custard,” she corrects. “Frozen custard.” 

“Next time, I’ll let you pick the restaurants,” he says. “I bet you have an unerring instinct for sweet treats.”

“Actually, no,” she says. “My sister is the one with the sweet tooth. And my older brother. If you need to get on his good side, just bring him a box of doughnuts.”

“I’m not sure under what circumstances I would need to get on your brother’s good side,” Mulder teases, raising his eyebrows, “but I’ll remember that.”

“Well, you did nearly throw me to the wolves.” She smirks and licks her coffee cone. 

“There were wolves,” he acknowledges, “but there was no throwing of any kind.” 

“I’m sure Mom will explain that to Bill when he calls for the weekly update,” Scully says lightly.

“You told your mother about the wolves?” he asks. 

She shrugs and smiles. “Sometimes she likes to worry.”

“I’m part of the weekly update?” he asks, as if it’s an afterthought, but she can see the longing in his eyes for the memory of family.

“Of course you are, Mulder,” she says. “You’re part of my life.”

“Does this mean I get to be in the Christmas letter?” he asks. 

“Only if you’re willing to wear a themed outfit,” she tells him. They drift slowly back toward the blocky outline of the Hoover Building, their ice cream worn down level with the cones.

“I’ll break out my most festive sweater,” he promises.

“Well then,” she says. “Welcome to the family.”

Goodbye, Iowa, she thinks, with its fields of opportunities that held, among other mysteries, white wolves and fulgarites. Goodbye to Ruby and Kevin and their sad and desperate mother. Hello again to DC, which makes no promises of warmth beyond the summer’s heat. Hello to her own far-flung family, bound together by sailors’ knots of love and loyalty. She looks at Mulder, who wants to believe; his mouth is smeared with ice cream and she catches a glimpse of the boy he once was. 

“We should probably eat more than just ice cream for lunch,” he says, tossing the soggy remnant of his cone in a trashcan and holding his hand out for hers. She passes it to him.

“You’re right,” she says.

“As a medical doctor, you really ought to be encouraging me to follow a healthier diet plan,” he teases, steering her gently with a non-sticky hand on her back, turning her toward their usual lunch place.

“Everyone needs a treat once in a while,” she says.

“Every day’s a holiday with you, Scully,” he jokes.

She smiles. “Don’t quit your day job, Mulder.”


End file.
